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The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

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Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#191

Post by opo »

mandeepj wrote: post #169
SoftTalker wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good rule of thumb is that if it goes on or in your body do not buy it from Amazon.

>Good rule of thumb is that if it goes on or in your body do not buy it from Amazon. If I do that, I always make sure I'm buying from the seller and not a reseller or distributor; I meant to say no other party besides the Seller and Amazon.

If it ships from Amazon, you can still run the risk that you get a counterfeit item since Amazon will co-mingle the inventory. Safer to only buy from the seller and is shipped by the seller.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#192

Post by rescbr »

vector_spaces wrote: post #108
lisper wrote: post #62

I would love to avoid Amazon, and indeed I would love to support local retailers, but more often than not it is simply impossible. The only way I can find out if a local vendor carries an item I'm interested in, and if they have it in stock, is to physically go there. The amount of time that requires is orders of magnitude more than what it takes to order the item on Amazon, where I am all but guaranteed that it will…

> via a partner like doordash I do technical consulting for small food companies This is an immediate non-starter for most local retail businesses because of the steep (25+%) transaction fees Doordash and other consumer last-mile providers charge, and the razor-thin margins of many retail stores To be clear I agree with your proposal overall and suspect this particular challenge is surmountable, but it's very difficu…

In my country (and this might be very specific to my city), one of the drugstore chains partnered with Uber, so you get deliveries within a few hours at a cheaper rate compared to other last-mile delivery options, probably by allocating drivers in off-peak hours.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#193

Post by twobitshifter »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #58

> Amazon needs to be stopped, and legislation will not do so. Only its loyal consumers – who keep the beast alive – can do that by taking their money elsewhere. We've (my wife and I) tried to stop using Amazon. But recently, I've run into issues where I need particular specialized bits and pieces (e.g. just today, a low profile 4" HVAC 90 degree elbow) that are only available via Amazon. A variation is where the item…

Try Aliexpress, you can cut out the middleman.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#194

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

curamious wrote: post #110
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #58

> Amazon needs to be stopped, and legislation will not do so. Only its loyal consumers – who keep the beast alive – can do that by taking their money elsewhere. We've (my wife and I) tried to stop using Amazon. But recently, I've run into issues where I need particular specialized bits and pieces (e.g. just today, a low profile 4" HVAC 90 degree elbow) that are only available via Amazon. A variation is where the item…

> ps. Amazon employee #2, wow, that must have been quite an interesting experience. Do you have any anecdotes that you were willing to share about the experience. Thanks

I've discussed it to death here on HN. Sort of over doing that anymore. I was only there for 14 months before getting out to become a stay at home parent.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#195

Post by sheepscreek »

Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

Was it “Sold by Amazon” or a third party marketplace seller?

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#196

Post by zargon »

sheepscreek wrote: post #195
Animats wrote: post #2

A real reason to avoid Amazon is fake merchandise. I'd been buying a vitamin supplement from them for years. Then they sent me a notice that it was being recalled as a fake.[1] (Archive [2]) They paid a refund for the last purchase. But that's all. Amazon won't respond to questions about what was in it or who the real seller is. I no longer buy anything from Amazon that could be faked. [1] https://www.amazon.com/ask/…

Was it “Sold by Amazon” or a third party marketplace seller?

It doesn't matter. Amazon co-mingles product they sourced themselves with product from all the marketplace sellers. They also resell returns, which could have been swapped with something else.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#197

Post by khuey »

phil21 wrote: post #175
khuey wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Amazon has ever outright admitted that they do, but Amazon's own terms give them the right to commingle their inventory with those of third party sellers. F-4 Storage We will provide storage services as described in these FBA Service Terms once we confirm receipt of delivery. We will keep electronic records that track inventory of Units by identifying the number of Units stored in any fulfillment center…

Right, that’s FBA. I’m talking about sold by Amazon. I’m specifically talking about a case where a sold by Amazon item came from co-mingled inventory from a FBA seller. I also know from direct second party experience (I also personally saw the terms) that at least at a certain level of “brand” you can decline this option with Amazon for your registered product skus/ASIN even for FBA. I don’t know if this is offered t…

> I’m specifically talking about a case where a sold by Amazon item came from co-mingled inventory from a FBA seller.

The FBA terms I quoted specifically say that Amazon can co-mingle FBA inventory with their own (if the FBA seller doesn't opt out of "virtual tracking").

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#199

Post by davkan »

lanfeust6 wrote: post #150
UberFly wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the system of government in which political power is vested in the people who freely elect representatives? Not sure how it applies.

Not sure either. Even Bezos' Washington Post has been pretty critical of the current administration.

Bezos personally blocked the WaPo editorial board from endorsing Kamala resulting in multiple resignations and a 10% loss in subscribers. A paper that adopted the tag line “Democracy Dies in Darkness” bending the knee to an authoritarian who committed election fraud would be hilarious if it weren’t so depressing.

But we shouldn’t be surprised that these liberal journalism outfits consistently fail the public. The same thing happened in Germany in the 20s and 30s with Ullstein. And in Italy with their liberal papers. And with the Times running cover for Hitler’s regime under Ochs.

Re: The Prime Reasons to Avoid Amazon

#200

Post by jvanderbot »

recursive wrote: post #159
jvanderbot wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, voting is one of those things that has an actual measure-able outcome. It's extremely reliable in its quantitative effects.

I don't really get this. The things I've chosen not to get from Amazon are similarly measurable in dollars or other units. Not that I think I'm going to win you over, but I don't understand this argument.

For the sake of mind melding I'll give it one more shot, but don't mind if we just don't connect on this issue at this time.

OP says stopping Amazon purchases have near zero effect, but might make you feel better, you said you don't do it for feelings but instead to avoid hypocrisy. My 1st comment was directed ONLY at the hypocrisy statement.

Hypocrisy is not a quantifiable thing, and is actually ONLY about how two decisions are interpreted. What is hypocrisy to one person is not to another. So it's subjective. Yet your subjective analysis of your own actions takes precedent, justifying your decision to avoid Amazon. Fine. The term I use for "subjective analysis that forms a most-likely-post-hoc justification for an action" is feeling. It feels right to do it is all we can really say about that. This is important and good and unassailable. It's morals and character. Good stuff definitely but not quantifiable.

As for the rest of the stuff about voting. Taking one dollar from Amazon is quantifiable, but we don't know how many dollars are required to make them change. It comes down to how the board or CEO or analysis or market feels about Amazons p/e or profit. So, not helpful. Will cutting another 100$ out of Amazons profits bring us closer to a change? What will that change look like? How much more do we have to cut to create a change? Are there better or worse changes if we cut more now vs more later vs quickly vs gradually? Etc etc.

Unlike voting which has a very precise decision point and an exact measure of progress towards that decision point for each vote cast. Perfectly quantifiable.

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